When All My Dreams Come True (11 page)

At the far window, a man stood with his back to them, leaning against the counter talking to the other employee. The bank sported three teller windows, and Bobbie suppressed a smile. Whoever built the bank must have been a visionary with great dreams for this small town’s growth.

The man chatting with the teller turned. Bobbie was surprised to see that it was Coop. She nodded a greeting, and he tipped his hat with his index finger, sending his familiar tobacco-stained smile in her direction. He looked like he was about to speak, but the teller’s strident voice reclaimed his attention with a description of a string of recent bank robberies. Bobbie turned away and tried to close out the sound of the teller’s voice.

Pete must have heard the conversation as he entered the room.
He scowled in the teller’s direction before approaching, gave Annie and the kids a kiss, then turned to Bobbie.

“Hello, Bobbie. Are you all here on business or is this visit strictly for my pleasure?” He bent to ruffle Ben’s hair and then sidestepped the boy’s disgruntled jab.

“I’d like to open an account, Pete. Is my money acceptable?”

“Sure! Follow me and I’ll get you set up.” Pete led the way to the first teller window. He located the necessary paperwork, and then waited while she filled it out. “So how much will you be depositing today?”

She reached down and hefted her saddlebag onto the counter. The puff of dust flying into the air along with the dirt now marring the once clean wood made her cheeks burn with embarrassment. She lifted the bag and prepared to wipe the counter with her sleeve, but Pete held up a hand.

“Don’t fret, Bobbie. Men carrying much more soil than that have been through here. It all cleans up.” He smiled and patted the wood. “Let’s see what you have.”

She pulled out stacks of bills, quoting the amount she had double-checked that morning as she handed them to Pete. When his eyebrows raised, she grinned at his obvious surprise.

“You left this much lying around?” Disbelief as well as disapproval coated his tone.

She looked about the room and found Coop’s gaze glued to her stack of money. She pushed it further toward Pete.

“I didn’t just leave it lying around, Pete. Besides, are you saying I can’t trust you and your family?”

Pete’s expression changed from chagrin to amusement. “No, I’m not saying that at all. You’ll have to excuse that comment. I guess there’s more banker in me than I thought.”

“There’s nothing wrong with that. It tells me you’ll take good care of my money.”

“Without question.” He applied his signature to the paperwork
and slid the sheet toward her. While she signed, he pulled out a new bankbook and stamped it before handing it to her to keep for her records. “Just bring this with you every time you need to make a transaction. But I guess you probably already know that.”

She nodded. “Thank you.”

“I’m glad to be able to help you, Bobbie.”

Pete motioned for one of the tellers to take care of the money before stepping around the counter. He followed them to the door and bid them farewell.

Outside, Annie stopped Ben from heading to the mercantile with a touch to his shoulder. She switched Sara to her other hip.

“Goodness, Bobbie.” Annie grabbed hold of Bobbie’s elbow. “You said you and your dad had been saving, but I had no idea. I can’t believe you’ve been running all over the territory with that kind of money.”

Coop exited the bank, interrupting her response.

“I didn’t know ranch hands could make such a wad of cash. Could be I need to think on moving north.” He spit a stream of brown juice into the street before tipping his hat. “Good day, ladies.”

She exchanged an amused smile with Annie. Coop’s crude behavior no longer took her aback, but it surprised her to see him act that way in front of Jace’s sister. Across the street, a lady Bobbie recognized from church beckoned and then hurried toward them. She offered a flustered greeting before asking to speak with Annie.

“I’ll meet you in the store,” Bobbie said.

She followed Coop’s footsteps down the boardwalk with mild fascination. He grabbed the reins of his horse and led it between two buildings—in the opposite direction of the ranch. Unsure what prompted her curiosity, she trailed Coop to that same alley. She peeked around the corner of the building. Seeing nothing, she stepped off the boardwalk and headed for the back.

When she reached the opening, she caught sight of Coop again. Two men she didn’t recognize accompanied him. At least one was
a man. The other rider was hidden by bushes with only the horse’s head showing. She moved into the shadow of the structure, never taking her eyes off them. The one man had his back to her, his long, light-brown hair blowing in the breeze. The hidden rider appeared to do most of the talking, though she heard no word of the exchange. Coop handed over a piece of paper, turned his horse, and headed in the direction of the ranch while the other two turned up the hill behind the bushes away from town.

She leaned against the building and replayed the strange scene in her mind. When she first saw Coop at the bank, she assumed he was there to do some business for Jace. But why would he send two ranch hands? And Coop’s furtive actions weren’t those of someone conducting honest business.

“Why you back here, Bobbie?”

Her heart leapt to her throat. She swallowed hard when she saw Coop staring down at her from atop his horse.

She forced a weak chuckle that sounded tremulous even to her own ears. “Coop, you scared me.”

The man didn’t say a word as his eyes narrowed.

She slowly stood up straight as she scrambled for an explanation. “Wha—ah.” Her mouth went dry. She licked her parched lips. “I was just doing a little exploring of the town. Other than going to church, it’s my first trip here since Jace hired me.”

“Strange way to explore. Most women stick near the boardwalk and peer in the windows. But you ain’t like most women, are ya, Bobbie?”

Anger replaced her fear. “No, I ain’t. But I do have feelings, Coop.”

Coop’s shoulders drooped. “Right. Sorry, Bobbie. That weren’t how I meant it.”

She gave a quick nod and tugged the brim of her hat down lower over her eyes. “Apology accepted. I need to get going now. Annie’s expecting me at the mercantile. See you back at the ranch, Coop.”

She felt his eyes boring into her back as she headed for the boardwalk. Not until she slipped around the corner was she able to take
another breath. With trembling legs, she made her way to the store, not looking over her shoulder until she stepped inside. Though she was safe amidst the other patrons, she couldn’t resist the quick peek out the window to make sure Coop hadn’t followed.

Inside the store, merchandise packed the walls from floor to ceiling. Everything and anything anyone could need lined the shelves in neatly labeled barrels and jars.

She approached the clerk to let him know she would be picking up Jace’s order and that the wagon sat out front. She tried to ignore his gawking as she turned and began a slow walk up and down the aisles. Her fingers skimmed over the bright linens and flowered napkins that painted one of the tables. She eventually found herself at the back of the store where Annie spotted her and held up a piece of green cloth. “What do you think of this?”

Bobbie touched the material and loved its softness. “This is very pretty, Annie. Is this going to be your new dress?”

“Actually, I thought this could be
your
new dress.”

Her jaw dropped open, and she snapped it closed. “Oh, Annie. I don’t know how to make a dress.”

“No. But I do.”

“But I couldn’t ask you to do that for me.”

“You didn’t ask me to. I’m offering.”

“But Annie—”

Annie cut her off with a wave. “Look, Bobbie, I want to do this for you. Besides, it will give me something to do with my hands. I already have all the baby clothes I need from the first two.” Annie ended her plea with a shrug. “So you see, you’ll be helping me out.”

She shook her head at Annie and took Sara from her arms. “You’re hopeless.”

Annie grinned, then ran around collecting the thread and buttons she would need to complete the dress. Bobbie went up to the front to see if all of Jace’s supplies had been loaded into the wagon, waited for Annie to rejoin her, then paid the bill.

Once home, she let Annie and the kids off at the house and then changed back into work clothes before pulling the wagon around to the barn to unload Jace’s supplies. She jumped from the seat and lifted a bag of grain.

“Stop right there,” a voice growled behind her.

She dropped the bag and raised her hands in the air. She straightened her shoulders, fighting the urge to turn toward the voice, and wishing she had worn her sidearm.

   NINE   

W
hat are you doing, Bobbie?”

“I beg your pardon?” She peeked over her shoulder. The second she saw Jace, her hands dropped to her sides, and her face flamed bright red.

“Why’d you put your hands up?” Jace walked toward her and the wagon.

“Y–you’re command. I reacted instinctively.”

“I just wanted you to drop that bag.”

“Well, it worked. I dropped it.” With a half-hearted laugh, she glanced over her shoulder at the bag. “It ain’t too heavy if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“That’s not what I’m worried about, but you don’t need to be carrying stuff like this.” He lifted the bag onto his shoulder. “I gave you the afternoon off. Relax.”

She stood rooted near the barn door as if she didn’t know what to do with herself.